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EP4283909A1 - Planification de liaison descendante - Google Patents

Planification de liaison descendante Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4283909A1
EP4283909A1 EP23175460.7A EP23175460A EP4283909A1 EP 4283909 A1 EP4283909 A1 EP 4283909A1 EP 23175460 A EP23175460 A EP 23175460A EP 4283909 A1 EP4283909 A1 EP 4283909A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
resource blocks
downlink
power
downlink resource
subset
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP23175460.7A
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Andrew Logothetis
Honey SARAO
Marlon PERSAUD
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Airspan IP Holdco LLC
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Airspan IP Holdco LLC
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Filing date
Publication date
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Publication of EP4283909A1 publication Critical patent/EP4283909A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
    • H04L5/003—Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
    • H04L5/0044—Allocation of payload; Allocation of data channels, e.g. PDSCH or PUSCH
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation
    • H04W72/044—Wireless resource allocation based on the type of the allocated resource
    • H04W72/0473—Wireless resource allocation based on the type of the allocated resource the resource being transmission power
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. Transmission Power Control [TPC] or power classes
    • H04W52/04—Transmission power control [TPC]
    • H04W52/30—Transmission power control [TPC] using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power
    • H04W52/34—TPC management, i.e. sharing limited amount of power among users or channels or data types, e.g. cell loading
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/14—Relay systems
    • H04B7/15—Active relay systems
    • H04B7/185—Space-based or airborne stations; Stations for satellite systems
    • H04B7/18502—Airborne stations
    • H04B7/18506—Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. Transmission Power Control [TPC] or power classes
    • H04W52/04—Transmission power control [TPC]
    • H04W52/06—TPC algorithms
    • H04W52/14—Separate analysis of uplink or downlink
    • H04W52/143—Downlink power control
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation
    • H04W72/044—Wireless resource allocation based on the type of the allocated resource
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation
    • H04W72/044—Wireless resource allocation based on the type of the allocated resource
    • H04W72/0446—Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/12—Wireless traffic scheduling
    • H04W72/1263—Mapping of traffic onto schedule, e.g. scheduled allocation or multiplexing of flows
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/20—Control channels or signalling for resource management
    • H04W72/23—Control channels or signalling for resource management in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/50—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources
    • H04W72/54—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources based on quality criteria
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/50—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources
    • H04W72/54—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources based on quality criteria
    • H04W72/542—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources based on quality criteria using measured or perceived quality

Definitions

  • the present technique relates to wireless radios.
  • an apparatus comprising: communication circuitry configured to receive information indicative of quality of a wireless downlink connection; scheduling circuitry configured to determine a subset of downlink resource blocks allocated to the wireless downlink connection based on the quality of the wireless downlink connection and a spectrum distribution of power across the downlink resource blocks; and power control circuitry configured to allocate a budget of the power to the subset of downlink resource blocks according to the spectrum distribution of the power, wherein the spectrum distribution of the power is non-uniform across the downlink resource blocks.
  • a method comprising: receiving information indicative of quality of a wireless downlink connection; determining a subset of downlink resource blocks allocated to the wireless downlink connection based on the quality of the wireless downlink connection and a spectrum distribution of power across the downlink resource blocks; and allocating a budget of the power to the subset of downlink resource blocks according to the spectrum distribution of the power, wherein the spectrum distribution of the power is non-uniform across the downlink resource blocks.
  • an apparatus comprising: means for receiving information indicative of quality of a wireless downlink connection; means for determining a subset of downlink resource blocks allocated to the wireless downlink connection based on the quality of the wireless downlink connection and a spectrum distribution of power across the downlink resource blocks; and means for allocating a budget of the power to the subset of downlink resource blocks according to the spectrum distribution of the power, wherein the spectrum distribution of the power is non-uniform across the downlink resource blocks.
  • an apparatus comprising: communication circuitry configured to receive information indicative of quality of a wireless downlink connection; scheduling circuitry configured to determine a subset of downlink resource blocks allocated to the wireless downlink connection based on the quality of the wireless downlink connection and a spectrum distribution of power across the downlink resource blocks; and power control circuitry configured to allocate a budget of the power to the subset of downlink resource blocks according to the spectrum distribution of the power, wherein the spectrum distribution of the power is non-uniform across the downlink resource blocks.
  • the downlink power distribution is equally spread and fixed across the available spectrum. Downlink resource blocks not used to perform downlink can result in wasted power.
  • One solution to this is to simply make use of all downlink resource blocks. However, this can result in a smaller signal to interference plus noise ratio that actually reduces the overall throughput.
  • power can be distributed unevenly. For instance, the power budget might be distributed among a small subset of all of the downlink resource blocks. In this way, it is possible to make use of the entire power budget while limiting the impact of interference. This is achieved by providing information about the downlink connection to the apparatus (which might take the form of a base station for instance). The apparatus then makes scheduling decisions by determining which downlink resource blocks should be used, taking into account the overall power budget that can be distributed across some or all of those resource blocks. The resulting schedule is then implemented.
  • the quality information comprises an average quality across the downlink resource blocks and a deviation from the average quality for each of the downlink resource blocks. In this way, it is possible to express at least an estimate of the quality of the downlink resource blocks efficiently. There are a number of ways in which the deviation can be expressed, depending on the number of bits that are provided for such an expression. However, in some embodiments, a pair of bits is provided for each resource block to illustrate whether a particular resource block is the same, one more, at least two more, or at least one less than the expressed average.
  • the information indicative of a quality of a wireless downlink connection is based on a Channel State Information value for the wireless downlink connection.
  • the Channel State Information value expresses the quality with which a particular signal is received.
  • a device receives a downlink signal from the apparatus, and the signal quality of that signal is measured and then reported back to the apparatus (e.g. as part of an uplink signal).
  • the Channel State Information is a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI).
  • the information indicative of a quality of a wireless downlink connection is a quantised indicator of signal quality. Consequently, rather than providing a raw signal quality value, for example a Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) the signal quality value might be quantised. Quantisation can be thought of as the process of 'bucketing' values. Rather than providing the true value, the value is placed into the closest 'bucket'. The quality is thus provided in a less expressive manner. However, this decreased expressiveness can be achieved using a smaller number of bits, and thus fewer bits are required in order to transmit the quality of the wireless downlink. In some examples, the quantization goes beyond mere floating point rounding.
  • SINR Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio
  • the quantization could be the provision of a CQI that is expressed as an integer. Typically, 16 discrete levels are used to signal the CQI. In some examples, the quantization is such that certain ⁇ buckets' cover different ranges. For instance, some 'buckets' may be ⁇ less than' or ⁇ greater than' particular values. In some examples, the quantization is such that each resource block is expressed as one of four possible values, using two bits for each resource block.
  • the scheduling circuitry comprises: ordering circuitry configured to generate a downlink resource block ordering by ordering the downlink resource blocks according to the quality information; and the subset of downlink resource blocks are contiguous in the downlink resource block ordering.
  • the downlink resource blocks are therefore ordered (e.g. in order of descending quality) and a contiguous subset of those blocks are allocated for the downlink to proceed with. That is, it is possible to allocate the highest quality resource block or the two highest quality resource blocks, but not the highest and lowest quality resource blocks (unless all resource blocks with intervening qualities are also allocated).
  • the scheduling circuitry comprises: SNR estimation circuitry configured to generate an estimated signal-to-noise-ratio assuming that the power budget was distributed to each candidate subset of downlink resource blocks.
  • SNR estimation circuitry configured to generate an estimated signal-to-noise-ratio assuming that the power budget was distributed to each candidate subset of downlink resource blocks.
  • a candidate subset of the downlink resource blocks which is a candidate for the subset of resource blocks to which the power budget is to be allocated, has an estimated signal-to-noise ratio generated, which is estimated on the assumption that the power budget will be fully expended on those candidate resource blocks.
  • the estimated signal-to-noise-ratio is an effective signal-to-noise-ratio that is generated by performing an addition operation on a set of representative values for the estimated signal-to-noise ratio of each downlink resource block, which can be combined without compensating for the non-linear nature of units of signal-to-noise ratio.
  • Signal-to-noise ratio may be calculated using decibels, which is an exponential scale. As a consequence, it is not possible to merely linearly add a number of signal-to-noise ratio values in a linear manner. Instead, the current examples use a lookup table or equation to convert the signal-to-noise ratios into effective signal-to-noise ratios, where linear addition is possible.
  • the scheduling circuitry comprises: modulation and coding scheme selection circuitry configured to determine a modulation and coding scheme to be used with a candidate subset of downlink resource blocks based on a desired error rate of the downlink resource blocks.
  • the modulation and coding scheme that is used may include the sending of redundant or error correction information in it. The lower the desired error rate (when a particular bit cannot be deciphered) the more redundant information must be transmitted to enable a bit to be recovered when it is not transmitted properly.
  • the modulation and coding scheme that is used may include the sending of the number of constellation points. The lower the desired error rate the fewer number of constellation points are transmitted to enable a bit to be recovered when it is not transmitted properly.
  • the scheduling circuitry comprises: throughput estimation circuitry configured to estimate a throughput for each candidate subset of downlink resource blocks. Once the modulation and coding scheme is known and once the signal-to-noise ratio is known, it is possible to estimate the throughput that can be achieved on the downlink connection.
  • the subset of downlink resource blocks is selected as the candidate subset of downlink resource blocks having a highest throughput.
  • the candidate set of downlink resource blocks may be a contiguous block of resource blocks in the ordered list of resource block qualities. Regardless, having determined the expected throughput from the subset of downlink resource blocks, the candidate subset that would produce the largest throughput for the downlink is selected. Note that outside the ordered list of resource blocks, those of the resource blocks that are allocated need not be contiguous. For instance, in the domains that define the resource blocks (e.g. frequency and/or time) the allocated resource blocks need not be contiguous.
  • the scheduling circuitry and the power control circuitry are configured to determine the subset of downlink resource blocks and to allocate the budget of the power to the subset of downlink resource blocks to one item of user equipment from a plurality of items of user equipment at a time. That is, the allocation and the decision of which blocks are allocated are made for only one user at once. The allocation decision does not depend on what can be simultaneously achieved with multiple users.
  • the downlink resource blocks are provided in respect of a single same configuration of a beam of the communication circuitry. That is, the scheduling circuitry does not consider alternative configurations of a beam used to determine the subset of downlink resource blocks.
  • the beam configuration might be controlled in order to change the wireless downlink connection and then the scheduling circuitry may be used to determine, using that wireless downlink connection, the downlink resource blocks that are to be allocated for the downlink to occur.
  • the power budget is fixed according to a regulatory restriction. Particular jurisdictions may place limits on the power with which a transmission may occur. In these examples, the power budget is limited in that particular manner. The power budget cannot, therefore, be arbitrarily increased in these examples.
  • the information indicative of quality of a wireless downlink connection is received from an item of user equipment.
  • the item(s) of user equipment could themselves use the downlink connection or could have their own downlink connections (e.g. that have already been formed).
  • the wireless downlink connection is a wireless downlink of the item of user equipment.
  • the items of user equipment are therefore configured to connect to the apparatus and to receive information using the downlink connection.
  • the spectrum distribution of the power is non-uniform across the downlink resource blocks such that at least some of the downlink resource blocks are allocated no power and at least some other of the downlink resource blocks are allocated non-zero power. Across the resource blocks that have been allocated power, each resource block may be allocated an equal share of the power budget.
  • Some configurations provide an apparatus comprising communication circuitry configured to receive information indicative of a quality of a wireless uplink connection.
  • the apparatus is provided with scheduling circuitry configured to determine an uplink transmission configuration defining a subset of uplink resource blocks allocated to the wireless uplink connection.
  • the subset of uplink resource blocks is determined based on a simultaneous consideration of both of the quality of the wireless uplink connection and a power spectrum distribution of a total power budget across the uplink resource blocks.
  • the power spectrum distribution is non-uniform across the uplink resource blocks.
  • the apparatus is provided to control a configuration of an uplink transmission.
  • uplink communications make use of a number of resource blocks with each resource block defining a usable subset of a time range and/or a frequency range that can be used by a specific device to transmit information as part of an uplink transmission.
  • a predetermined power budget for example, defined by a wireless communication standard
  • the power budget is defined across the finite number of resource blocks.
  • the apparatus is provided with communication circuitry that is configured to receive information that is indicative of a quality of a wireless uplink connection.
  • the communication circuitry measures the quality of the wireless uplink connection based on a measurement of a reference signal that is received by the communication circuitry.
  • the reference signal is a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)
  • SRS Sounding Reference Signal
  • the apparatus is also provided with scheduling circuitry that is arranged to determine uplink transmission configurations.
  • the scheduling circuitry and the communication circuitry may be provided as physically distinct blocks of circuitry or as a single block of circuitry that performs the functions of both the scheduling circuitry and the communication circuitry.
  • the scheduling circuitry is arranged to define a subset of uplink resource blocks that are allocated to the wireless uplink transmission by considering both the quality of the wireless uplink connection and a power spectrum distribution simultaneously. The simultaneous consideration of the quality of the wireless uplink connection and a power spectrum distribution means that the subset of uplink resource blocks is selected based on both of these quantities which are considered within a same calculation.
  • the scheduling circuitry is arranged to consider a non-uniform distribution of the total power budget across the uplink resource blocks.
  • the simultaneous considerations includes the consideration of different possible non-uniform distributions of the power budget across the subset of resource blocks and knowledge of a current quality of the wireless uplink connection.
  • this approach improves throughput by choosing the subset of uplink resource blocks based on the quality of the signal and the total power budget. For example, if the signal quality is poor, throughput may be increased by reducing a number of resource blocks in the subset of uplink resource blocks whilst increasing a power associated with each of the uplink resource blocks. On the other hand, where the signal quality is good, throughput may be increased by increasing the number of resource blocks in the subset of uplink resource blocks whilst decreasing the power associated with each of the uplink resource blocks.
  • the subset of uplink resource blocks can be defined as any of the resource blocks within a predefined time and frequency range. However, in some configurations the subset of uplink resource blocks are a contiguous subset of the uplink resource blocks. Some communication standards require that uplink resource block allocation is contiguous.
  • a particularly efficient solution can be provided that determines uplink resource block allocation taking into account resource blocks for which a particularly low connection quality is determined. For example, it may be determined that a maximum throughput can be obtained by defining the contiguous subset of uplink resource blocks such that they avoid a particular resource block for which a particularly low connection quality is reported.
  • the contiguous subset of uplink resource blocks can be contiguous in the time domain or the frequency domain
  • the contiguous subset of the uplink resource blocks are contiguously allocated frequency ranges in a frequency domain.
  • the scheduling circuitry is able to determine a configuration that uses portions of the frequency domain that are not in use by other devices in the neighbourhood of the apparatus which are likely to be prolonged sources of interference.
  • the uplink transmission configuration is not limited and, in addition to defining the subset of uplink resource blocks allocated to the wireless uplink connection, in some configurations the scheduling circuitry is configured to determine, as part of the uplink transmission configuration, modulation coding scheme information associated with the subset of uplink resource blocks; and the modulation coding scheme information is determined based on the simultaneous consideration of both of the quality of the wireless uplink connection and the power spectrum distribution of the total power budget across the uplink resource blocks.
  • a modulation coding scheme relates to a number of bits of information that can be carried by a resource block.
  • a higher modulation coding scheme index corresponds to a greater number of bits of information carried per resource block and a lower modulation coding scheme index corresponds to a lower number of bits of information carried per resource block.
  • the choice of modulation coding scheme that is appropriate is dependent on a target minimum signal quality corresponding to a specific transmission error rate. In other words for a predefined transmission error rate there is a correspondence between the signal quality and the modulation coding scheme index. Hence, there is a need to carefully choose the modulation coding scheme in order to ensure that the signal quality does not decrease below the minimum signal quality. If the modulation coding scheme index is too high for a current signal quality, then the transmission error rate will increase and throughput will drop.
  • the scheduling circuitry is configured to calculate both of the subset of uplink resource blocks and the corresponding modulation coding scheme simultaneously. In this way the modulation coding scheme is tailored to the choice of the subset of uplink resource blocks based on the quality of the wireless uplink connection.
  • the scheduling circuitry is configured to determine the subset of uplink resource blocks based on the modulation coding scheme information. The determination can be based on an initial selection of modulation coding scheme information such that the subset of uplink resource blocks provides a greatest throughput for the selected modulation coding scheme.
  • an iterative procedure is used to refine the selection of the modulation coding scheme based on an estimated throughput of the subset of uplink resource blocks that are selected based on an initial estimate of the modulation coding scheme.
  • the scheduling circuitry is configured to select the uplink transmission configuration from a plurality of potential uplink transmission configurations each defining a corresponding contiguous subset of uplink resource blocks. For a given number of resource blocks that are available for allocation, there will be a finite number of possible combinations of contiguous resource block allocations.
  • the scheduling circuitry is configured to calculate a potential uplink transmission configuration for at least a subset of all possible combinations. In some configurations the scheduling circuitry is configured to calculate a potential uplink transmission configuration for every possible contiguous combination of resource blocks.
  • the selection of one of the potential uplink transmission configurations by the scheduling circuitry can be determined based on a number of different factors.
  • the scheduling circuitry is configured to estimate, for each of the plurality of potential uplink transmission configurations, an uplink communication throughput based on a corresponding power spectrum distribution of the total power budget across the corresponding contiguous subset of uplink resource blocks; and the uplink transmission configuration is selected as one of the plurality of potential uplink transmission configurations having a highest estimated uplink communication throughput.
  • the scheduling circuitry selects the uplink transmission configuration as the one with the highest modulation coding scheme resulting in a greatest density of transmitted information.
  • the scheduling circuitry is configured to select the uplink transmission configuration based on a predetermined number of resource blocks.
  • the scheduling circuitry is further configured to estimate, for each of the plurality of potential uplink transmission configurations, the uplink communication throughput based on the modulation coding scheme information associated with the corresponding contiguous subset of uplink resource blocks.
  • potential uplink configurations that use fewer resource blocks will have a higher modulation coding scheme because a greater portion of the total power budget can be allocated to those resource blocks. The resulting transmission is therefore likely to be higher quality and so there is less chance of transmission errors occurring. Less redundant or recovery information therefore needs to be included.
  • a greater information density can be provided within a smaller number of resource blocks.
  • a greater throughput may be achievable by using a lower modulation coding scheme but spreading the power budget over a greater number of resource blocks.
  • the information indicative of a quality of a wireless uplink connection can be defined as an average or a maximum value of the signal quality of each resource block across the whole range of resource blocks.
  • the information indicative of a quality of a wireless uplink connection comprises a plurality of signal to interference and noise ratios, each indicative of a reference signal associated with one of the uplink resource blocks of a wireless uplink signal received from a communication device by the wireless communication circuitry. In this way the scheduling circuitry is able to select an uplink transmission configuration tailored to the communication device that potentially avoids particular resource blocks for which there is a particularly poor signal to interference and noise ratio.
  • the information indicative of a quality of the wireless uplink connection comprises a plurality of signal to noise ratios.
  • the communication circuitry is configured to transmit the uplink transmission configuration to the communication device. In this way information can be provided to the communication device that enables the communication device to modify the subset of uplink resource blocks that it uses for a particular uplink communication and the modulation coding scheme that the communication device uses for that uplink communication.
  • the modulation coding scheme can be calculated in a variety of ways.
  • the modulation coding scheme is based on a maximum signal to interference and noise ratio of the plurality of signal to interference and noise ratios associated with the subset of uplink resource blocks.
  • the modulating coding scheme information is calculated based on a non-linear combination of the plurality of signal to interference and noise ratios associated with the subset of uplink resource blocks. Because signal to interference and noise ratios are expressed on a logarithmic scale any measurement that is based on a combination of a number of the plurality of signal to interference and noise ratios should be designed to compensate for the non-linearity of the logarithmic scale. Hence, using a non-linear combination of the plurality of signals provides a more consistent approach to calculating the modulation coding scheme.
  • the non-linear combination comprises converting each of the plurality of signal to interference and noise ratios to a resulting value on a linear scale and averaging the resulting values.
  • the resulting averaged value can then be converted back to the logarithmic scale to determine an average signal to interference and noise ratio.
  • the modulation coding scheme can then be calculated on the basis of the average signal to interference and noise ratio.
  • the method by which each of the plurality of signal to interference and noise ratios is converted to the resulting value on the linear scale can be variously defined.
  • a lookup table can be provided to perform the conversion. This approach is particularly efficient computationally.
  • processing circuitry can be provided to convert between the signal to interference and noise ratios and the linear scale.
  • an iterative approach can be used to sequentially determine an average signal to interference and noise ratio for each of the subset of uplink resource blocks based on a previously calculated average signal to interference and noise ratio associated with a further subset of uplink resource blocks, where the further subset of resource blocks is contained in the subset of resource blocks.
  • the communication circuitry is configured to receive information indicative of an uplink communication event, and wherein the apparatus further comprises correction circuitry configured to modify the information indicative of the quality of the wireless uplink connection by a correction factor based on the information indicative of the uplink communication event.
  • the information indicative of the quality of the wireless uplink connection is modified by the correction factor before being passed to the scheduling circuitry.
  • the information indicative of an uplink communication event can be any received information that requires a modification of the quality of the wireless uplink connection by the correction factor.
  • the information indicative of the uplink communication event is information that indicates a communication success of the uplink transmission or information that indicates a communication failure of the uplink transmission. This mechanism provides a feedback loop that allows for artificial modification of the information indicative of the quality of the wireless uplink connection and can be used to improve the throughput of the uplink connection.
  • the information indicative of the quality of the wireless uplink connection is a signal to interference and noise ratio and the correction factor is added to the signal to interference and noise ratio.
  • the signal to interference and noise ratio that is used to perform the scheduling can be artificially increased, with respect to the signal to interference and noise ratio that is measured, in response to a communication event.
  • the correction factor is dynamically selected in order to achieve a predetermined block error rate.
  • the block error rate is a measurement of a rate at which blocks are received in error.
  • the block error rate defines a maximum allowable rate of error for the received blocks.
  • an increased throughput can be achieved whilst maintaining a block error rate that is typically less than or equal to the predetermined block error rate.
  • the correction factor is decreased by a downward correction factor in response to the information indicative of the uplink communication event indicating a communication success; and the correction factor is increased by an upwards correction factor in response to the information indicative of the uplink communication event indicating a communication failure.
  • the block error rate is below the predetermined block error rate, more blocks will be received successfully.
  • the downward correction factor is used and the correction factor is reduced resulting in a lower modified signal to interference and noise ratio.
  • the scheduling circuitry is likely to select a higher modulation coding scheme or a different subset of the uplink resource blocks. This, in turn, will increase the throughput of the system but will potentially increase the number of communication failures.
  • the scheduling circuitry is likely to select a lower modulation coding scheme or a different subset of the uplink result blocks. This, in turn, will decrease the throughput of the system and will reduce the number of communication failures. This dynamic procedure results in a communication scheme where throughput is adjusted such that the block error rate is approximately equal to the predetermined block error rate.
  • the information indicating a communication success is an acknowledgement signal (ACK) and the information indicating a communication failure is a negative acknowledgement signal (NACK).
  • the upwards correction factor is greater than the downwards correction factor. In this way, an increase in a frequency of communication failures results in a more rapid response from the scheduling circuitry than in the case of a decrease in the frequency of communication failures. As a result the apparatus is able to reduce a frequency at which the block error rate exceeds the predetermined block error rate.
  • a ratio of the upwards correction factor and the downwards correction factor is selected in order to achieve the predetermined block error rate. Because the number of modifications of the correction factor based on the upwards correction factor and the downwards correction factor is determined based on the actual block error rate, the upwards correction factor and the downwards correction factor are assigned a specific ratio in order to achieve the predetermined block error rate.
  • the block error rate (BLER) target is achieved by adjusting the current correction factor ⁇ k downwards by the downwards correction factor ⁇ down upon the reception of a communication success (ACK), and upwards by the upwards correction factor ⁇ up upon the reception of a communication failure (NACK).
  • the power spectrum distribution comprises a non-zero power allocated to the subset of uplink resource blocks and zero power allocated to a further subset of the uplink resource blocks, and the further subset of the uplink resource blocks and the subset of the uplink resource blocks are mutually exclusive subsets.
  • the scheduling circuitry therefore selects the subset of uplink resource blocks which are allocated a non-zero power allocation. Resource blocks that do not form part of the subset of uplink resource blocks are allocated zero power of the total power budget.
  • the non-zero power is dependent on a size of the subset of the uplink resource blocks. In some configurations the non-zero power that is allocated to the subset of uplink resource blocks is split evenly between each of the subset of uplink resource blocks. In other configurations the non-zero power is distributed between the resource blocks in a non-uniform way, for example, based on the information indicative of the quality of the uplink connection.
  • the apparatus for which the techniques described herein can be utilised can take a variety of forms.
  • the apparatus could be a base station that communicates with a hand held radio device that can be carried by a pedestrian or in a vehicle.
  • the apparatus could be a base station configured to communicate with user equipment 12 mounted on a vehicle.
  • the vehicle could take a variety of forms.
  • the techniques could be applied in respect of trains, where the base stations may be spread out along a region relatively close to the track.
  • the vehicle is an aircraft, such as the airplane 10 shown in Figure 1 .
  • the user equipment (UE) 12 on the airplane 10 is able to communicate with a base station 20 which may be one of a network of base stations provided to enable the aircraft 10 to connect to different base stations during a flight in order to seek to maintain a communication link that can be used to provide connectivity to passengers in the aircraft.
  • a base station 20 which may be one of a network of base stations provided to enable the aircraft 10 to connect to different base stations during a flight in order to seek to maintain a communication link that can be used to provide connectivity to passengers in the aircraft.
  • the apparatus described herein which may take the form of the base station 20, may be arranged to perform scheduling for an uplink transmission and/or a downlink transmission.
  • the uplink transmission is a transmission from the user equipment 12 to the base station 20 and the downlink transmission is a transmission from the base station 20 to the user equipment 12.
  • FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a base station 100 configured for wireless communication with a plurality of terminals (not shown).
  • the base station 100 includes an antenna array 102, which is arranged to generate a plurality of beams to transmit and receive signals from the plurality of terminals, under the control of wireless communication circuitry 104.
  • the wireless communication circuitry 104 controls the antenna array 102 to transmit information (referred to as downlink transmissions) to the plurality of terminals on one or more transmission beams, and to receive information (referred to as uplink transmissions) transmitted by the plurality of terminals on one or more reception beams.
  • the transmission beams and reception beams are directional, so that they are only visible to terminals in a given direction (e.g. within a given angular range, the width of the range being dependent on how broad the beam is) - e.g. a transmission beam is considered to be "visible” to a given terminal if data transmitted using the transmission beam can be received by the terminal's antenna circuitry, and a reception beam is considered to be "visible” to the given terminal if the base station can receive data, transmitted by the terminal, on the reception beam.
  • the number of beams which can be used at any given time by the antenna array may be limited based on hardware constraints associated with the specific circuitry of the base station 100, and/or due to certain regulatory constraints, some jurisdictions may require that the number of transmission beams (downlink beams) in operation at any given time be limited to a certain number. In some cases, regulatory constraints may limit the number of beams further (e.g. to a lower number) than the hardware constraints.
  • the antenna array 102 is made up of a plurality of antenna elements, and the base station 100 may further comprise beamforming circuitry (not shown) to generate the one or more reception and transmission beams, and beam steering circuitry (not shown) to steer (e.g. rotate) the beams.
  • beamforming circuitry not shown
  • beam steering circuitry not shown
  • the wireless communication circuitry 104 controls the antenna array 102 to communicate with the plurality of terminals in predetermined time slots each of which comprises plural resource block groups.
  • the antenna array transmits downlink data to the one or more terminals in transmission time slots (also referred to as downlink slots or transmission slots) and does not transmit data during reception time slots (also referred to as uplink slots or reception slots), which are instead reserved for reception of uplink transmissions that are transmitted by the one or more terminals.
  • the base station 100 of Figure 2 also includes downlink scheduling circuitry 106 and uplink scheduling circuitry 108.
  • the downlink scheduling circuitry 106 is arranged to perform a downlink scheduling process to determine downlink data allocations indicating, for a given downlink slot, which terminals the base station will transmit downlink data to and which wireless resources will be used to transmit the downlink data.
  • the uplink scheduling circuitry 108 is configured to perform an uplink scheduling process to determine uplink data allocations indicating, for one or more uplink slots, which terminals the base station expects to receive uplink information from, and which wireless resources it expects to be used.
  • Downlink scheduling processes and uplink scheduling processes which may be employed by the downlink scheduling circuitry and the uplink scheduling circuitry are described below.
  • the uplink scheduling circuitry 108 and the downlink scheduling circuitry 106 are shown in Figure 2 as being separate, in alternative configurations, it is also possible for a single set of scheduling circuitry to perform both the downlink scheduling process and the uplink scheduling process.
  • the base station may employ both downlink and uplink scheduling according to the disclosed techniques and, in alternative configurations, the base station may employ only one of downlink or uplink scheduling according to the disclosed techniques and may perform the other of the downlink or uplink scheduling alternative or previously known techniques.
  • the downlink data allocations and the uplink data allocations are communicated to the terminals in the form of control information - in particular, the control information includes information indicating the downlink data allocations and information indicating the uplink data allocations.
  • the control information - indicating both downlink and uplink data allocations - is generated by the downlink scheduling circuitry 106 and the uplink scheduling circuitry 108 respectively and transmitted by the antenna array as part of the downlink data.
  • the base station 100 is configured to communicate with the plurality of terminals in predetermined transmission time slots (downlink slots) and reception time slots (uplink slots).
  • Figure 3 shows an example of how these time slots may be arranged within a time period referred to as a frame.
  • the uplink slots and downlink slots are separated in time using the technique of Time Division Duplex (TDD).
  • TDD Time Division Duplex
  • an alternative duplex scheme may be used.
  • the uplink slots and the downlink slots may be separated in frequency employing Frequency Division Duplex (FDD).
  • FDD Frequency Division Duplex
  • a downlink frame comprises only downlink slots
  • the uplink frame comprises only uplink slots.
  • a frame 200 is a 10 ms time period and is divided into ten slots.
  • the ten slots in this example comprise six downlink slots 202a-202f, three uplink slots 206a-206c and one special/reserved slot 204.
  • the downlink slots represent periods of time during which downlink communication may be performed.
  • the user equipment 10 is configured to receive (download) downlink data (also referred to as downlink information) from the base station 100 during the downlink slots.
  • the uplink slots represent periods of time during which uplink communication may be performed.
  • the user equipment 10 is configured to transmit (upload) uplink data (uplink information) to the base station during the uplink slots.
  • the special/reserved slot S0 204 is used to provide some separation between downlink communication and uplink communication, and hence allow time for the wireless communication circuitry to reconfigure its operation between transmission and reception.
  • each slot - including both downlink slots 202 and uplink slots 206 - comprises seventeen resource block groups (RBGs) 208 in the frequency domain.
  • Each RBG 208 represents a portion of the frequency range used by the base station to communicate with the plurality of terminals.
  • the total frequency range is 48.6 MHz
  • each RBG 208 covers a portion of that range - in this particular example, the first 16 RBGs (RBG0 to RBG15) each cover 2.88 MHz, while the 17 th RBG (RBG16) covers a range of 2.52 MHz (not shown in figure).
  • each RBG 208 is, in turn, divided into resource blocks (RBs) 210 in the frequency domain, each covering a portion of the frequency range covered by the RBG 208 - in the example of Figure 3 , each RBG 208 other than the last one comprises sixteen RBs 210 (the last one, RBG16, comprises 14 RBs (not shown in figure)). Each RB 210 covers a frequency range of 180 kHz. Finally, each RB 210 is further divided in both the time domain and the frequency domain. In particular, each RB 210 comprises fourteen orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 212 in the time domain and 12 subcarriers (SC) 214 in the frequency domain.
  • OFDM orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing
  • Different RBGs 208 within a single slot can be allocated for communication with different terminals if desired, and the wireless communication resources identified for each data allocation will indicate the RBGs allocated. It is also possible to allocate individual RBs 210 to different terminals - in which case the wireless communication resources identified for each data allocation will indicate the relevant RBs 210 allocated. Whilst each subcarrier/OFDM symbol unit (denoted by the individual squares in the right hand side of Figure 3 ) may carry separate items of information, an individual RB is the smallest addressable unit in time and frequency, and hence the smallest individually allocatable unit of the frequency spectrum is the resource block.
  • the uplink scheduling circuitry 108 and the downlink scheduling circuitry 106 each function to determine a transmission configuration (uplink transmission configuration and downlink transmission configuration) that will enable the apparatus to achieve a particular block error rate.
  • the uplink transmission configuration and the downlink transmission configuration are each chosen such that the block error rate (BLER) achieved by the uplink transmission and the downlink transmission respectively are set equal to or less than a target block error rate.
  • BLER block error rate
  • each of the uplink scheduling circuitry 108 and the downlink scheduling circuitry 106 is configured to predict the BLER based on information indicative of a quality of the wireless communication.
  • the scheduling circuitry receives the information indicative of the quality of the wireless communication. In the illustrated configuration this information is provided as a plurality of measurements s j for j from 1 to N, where each measurement s j is indicative of a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) associated with one of the sub-carriers.
  • SINR signal to interference and noise ratio
  • the average SINR is not a good metric in predicting the coded BLER. Because the SINR is a logarithmic quantity, the average SINR does not provide a good mechanism in predicting an appropriate Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) for the specified BLER target.
  • MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme
  • an Effective Signal to Interference Plus Noise Ratio (ESINR) mapping is used.
  • the ESINR mapping uses a function that maps/compresses a vector of SINRs (one per each sub-carrier measured at the input of the FEC decoder) into an instantaneous scalar ESINR.
  • the scheduling circuitry is therefore provided with ESINR mapping circuitry 402 to estimate an ESINR based on each of the measurements s j .
  • the ESINR is provided, in combination with information defining a modulation coding scheme and the block size, to the BLER predictor 400 that estimates a BLER.
  • the BLER predictor takes the ESINR as an input and yields an estimate of the expected BLER.
  • the SINR for sub-carrier j is denoted by s j .
  • the ESINR block takes a vector of N SINRs and yields a scalar value s .
  • BLER prediction is achieved using a pre-computed family of BLER vs SINR curves.
  • the aforementioned BLER curves are generated using link simulations assuming flat fading channels.
  • f ( ⁇ ) is an invertible mapping function
  • s denotes the effective SINR
  • N denotes the number of sub-carriers used to transmit the coded forward error correction block.
  • the constants ⁇ 1 and ⁇ 2 depend on the current MCS.
  • the exponential effective SINR method is used to derive the ESINR.
  • the calculation of the ESINR is then obtained by finding the minimum s min of the vector of SINRs. The minimum is then subtracted from each value and the ESINR of the modified values is calculated. Finally, the minimum value is added to obtain the ESINR. Once the ESINR is known it can be fed into the BLER predictor 400 to determine the BLER for a given MCS and block size.
  • the ESINR may be required for a number of different transmission configurations including different subsets of RBGs.
  • the above method for calculation of the ESINR can be calculated repeatedly for each of the different transmission configurations.
  • a recursive approach can be used which avoids repeated evaluations of ESINRs from previous subsets of RBGs, thus providing a reduction in the computational cost of computing the ESINR.
  • the ESINR at k is computed by the ESINR at k-1 and considering the current SINR at k.
  • a lookup table is used to convert between s n and a corresponding f n . These values are then averaged to define an averaged f which is then mapped back to obtain s .
  • This method is illustrated in Figure 5 in which two values s 1 500 and s 2 502 are mapped to a corresponding f 1 510 and f 2 512. The values of f 1 and f 2 are averaged to obtain an averaged information value f 514 which is mapped using the lookup table to obtain the ESINR s 504.
  • the BLER is predicted based on the ESINR and a particular MCS. Therefore, the above methods provide the means to select the MCS in order to achieve a particular BLER.
  • the inventors have realised that an increased throughput can be achieved by carefully selecting a subset of RBGs, an MCS scheme and by using power boosting in which a total power budget is distributed across the selected RBGs. The approach is discussed for the cases of the downlink transmission scheduler and the uplink transmission scheduler below.
  • the user equipment is responsible for conducting channel quality measurements to determine channel quality information (CQI) based on downlink channel state information references signals (CSI-RS). These measurements are reported to the base station (apparatus) to assist the scheduler in determining resource allocation and MCS selection.
  • CQI channel quality information
  • CSI-RS downlink channel state information references signals
  • the user equipment reports this information using feedback messages which are encoded and transmitted through the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
  • the feedback messages include channel quality information which is provided as wideband channel quality information and indicative of an average channel quality information, for example related to an ESINR, and differential channel quality information indicative of a difference between the wideband channel quality information and the sub-band channel quality information. Typically, this information is compressed in order to reduce the transmission overhead associated with this signal.
  • 5G using Numerology 0 with maximum bandwidth set to 50 MHz is considered.
  • a total of 17 sub-bands (or Resource Block Groups RBGs) each comprising of 16 RBs can be used.
  • a CSI-RS resource may be associated with a specific beam. This association assists the UE to differentiate the various downlink beams and report the preferred beam to the base station.
  • the CRI denotes the CSI Resource Indicator, i.e., the preferred beam index. For non beam-formed systems the CRI field is missing, i.e., not reported.
  • the CQI is built up by a wideband and a plurality of sub-band reports.
  • the CSI report employing the "cri-RI-CQI" feedback is shown, for example, in Table 1.
  • Each sub-band therefore is allocated only 2 bits of information to define the differential sub-band CQI.
  • the mapping between CQI offset and the differential value is defined, for example, in Table 2.
  • the base station receives the CSI report which is passed to the downlink scheduling circuitry to determine a downlink transmission configuration.
  • the downlink scheduling circuitry could consider the wideband channel quality information (which, for example, is related to an ESINR calculated by the user equipment) to determine a modulation coding scheme. This can be achieved using a lookup table, for example, Table 3, to estimate an appropriate MCS scheme associated with a particular CQI index for the wideband CQI.
  • Table 3 MCS / CQI mapping CQI Index MCS Index 0 Out of Range 1 0 2 0 3 2 4 4 5 6 6 8 7 11 8 13 9 15 10 18 11 20 12 22 13 24 14 26 15 28
  • a wideband SINR can, for a given target BLER, be calculated based on the estimated MCS using a second lookup table, for example, as illustrated in Table 4.
  • Table 4. MCS vs SINR MCS Index I MCS Target SINR at 10% BLER Target SINR at 5% BLER Target SINR at 1 % BLER 0 -5.27 -5.22 -5.11 1 -4.11 -4.04 -3.89 2 -3.10 -3.02 -2.91 3 -1.94 -1.89 -1.77 4 -1.02 -1.00 -0.91 5 0.05 0.10 0.21 6 0.98 1.02 1.09 7 1.96 2.00 2.10 8 2.78 2.82 2.89 9 3.69 3.74 3.80 10 4.68 4.73 4.84 11 5.34 5.39 5.53 12 6.26 6.30 6.40 13 6.92 6.98 7.09 14 7.93 7.99 8.14 15 8.70 8.77 8.89 16 9.37 9.41 9.54 17 10.09 10.15 10.26 18 10.68 10.76 10.93 19 11.61 11.
  • the base station can infer a relationship between the SINR and the CQI.
  • the differential CQI is used to select a subset of downlink resource blocks that will provide an improved throughput for a wireless downlink connection.
  • the choice of subset is based on the downlink resource blocks that have a highest SINR.
  • the differential CQI provides only a coarse discretisation of the sub-band quality. Because only two bits per sub-band are provided, only 4 states can be reported. The last state indicates an undermined offset below the average CQI. This provides a limited feedback for the base station to approximate the absolute value of the sub-band CQIs.
  • the following differential CQI levels are assumed: Table 5. Reported differential sub-band and assumed CQI offset levels Differential Sub-band CQI value Offset level Assumed Level ⁇ q n 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 ⁇ 2 2 3 ⁇ -1 x
  • the differential CQI for all sub-bands that have a differential sub-band CQI value of 0 is given by the wideband CQI value;
  • the differential CQI for all sub-bands that have a differential sub-band CQI value of 1 is given by the wideband CQI value plus one;
  • the differential CQI for all sub-bands that have a differential sub-band CQI value of 2 is given by the wideband CQI value plus two;
  • the differential CQI for all sub-bands that have a differential sub-band CQI value of 3 is given by the wideband CQI value plus a same (to be determined) unknown value denoted as x.
  • FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a method by which the SINR level of the sub-bands is estimated.
  • Flow begins at step S600 where the downlink scheduling circuitry determines the wideband modulation coding scheme based on wideband channel quality information (wideband CQI) that is provided as part of the CSI report. This can be achieved, for example, using lookup tables storing information as set out in Table 3.
  • Flow then proceeds to step S602 where the wideband SINR is estimated from the wideband MCS. This is achieved for a given target block error rate (BLER) and can be implemented, for example using a lookup table storing information as set out in Table 4.
  • the target block error rate is a known quantity that is provided in advance.
  • step S604 it is determined whether any of the differential sub-band CQI values is equal to 0. If so, then the sub-band CQI values for those sub-bands are set equal to the wideband CQI level.
  • step S606 it is determined whether any of the differential sub-band CQI values is equal to 1. If so, then the sub-band CQI values for those sub-bands are set equal to the wideband CQI level plus one.
  • step S608 it is determined whether any of the differential sub-band CQI values is equal to 2. If so, then the sub-band CQI values for those sub-bands are set equal to the wideband CQI level plus two.
  • step S610 it is determined whether any of the differential sub-band CQI values is equal to 3. If so, then the sub-band CQI values for those sub-bands are set equal to nill or otherwise marked as being as yet undetermined. Flow then proceeds to step S612 where the SINR level of the sub-bands is estimated such that the sub-bands that are marked as being nill are selected to ensure that the effective SINR of the entire band matches the estimated wideband SINR.
  • a lookup table method can be used to determine the unknown SINR x 710.
  • four SINRs are known: s 0 702, s 1 704, s 2 706, and ⁇ 708.
  • s 0 denotes the estimated SINR for the RBGs that have signalled a differential CQI of 0.
  • s 1 denotes the estimated SINR for the RBGs that have signalled a differential CQI of 1.
  • s 2 denotes the estimated SINR for the RBGs that have signalled a differential CQI of 2.
  • ⁇ denotes the estimated wideband SINR.
  • the unknown information value corresponding to the unknown SNR x 710 can then be calculated using the knowledge that the information value f ⁇ 718 is equal to the weighted average of the information values f 0 712, f 1 714, f 2 716, and the unknown information value f x 720.
  • the unknown function can then be mapped to the unknown SINR value, x, using the lookup table.
  • the weighting mentioned above takes into account the number of instances of x, s 0 s 1 and s 2 that are present in the feedback channel. The sum of the instances is equal to the number of RBGs.
  • the preceding steps therefore indicate how an estimate of the channel quality (the SINR) can be determined without actually transmitting the SINR and by instead providing channel quality information (CQI) that is indicative of the SINR and that is used by the base station to estimate the SINR for each sub-band.
  • CQI channel quality information
  • the SINRs Once the SINRs have been estimated for each of the sub-bands, it is possible to obtain an estimate of the subset of downlink resource blocks that maximise throughput.
  • the estimated SINR can be converted, for the given target BLER, to a corresponding MCS using, for example, Table 4.
  • Figure 8 schematically illustrates a worked example for estimating the unknown SINR using the method described in relation to Figures 6 and 7 .
  • information indicative of the wideband CQI and the differential sub-band CQI is received for 17 resource blocks (RBGs 0 through to 16).
  • the wideband CQI is 3 and a range of differential CQI values are received.
  • RBGs 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, and 16 each have a differential CQI of 0 indicating that the CQI for that sub-band is equal to the wideband CQI.
  • the assumed sub-band CQI level of RBGs 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, and 16 is 3.
  • RGBs 5 and 14 have a differential sub-band CQI of 1 indicating that the CQI for those sub-bands is equal to the wideband CQI plus one.
  • RGBs 5 and 14 have a assumed sub-band CQI level of 4.
  • RGBs 1, 8, and 15 have a differential sub-band CQI of 2 indicating that the CQI for those sub-bands is equal to the wideband CQI plus 2.
  • RGBs 1, 8, and 15 have an assumed sub-band CQI level of 5.
  • RBGs 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 12 have a differential sub-band CQI equal to 3 indicating that the wideband CQI for that sub-band is less than the wideband CQI that has been reported.
  • the assumed sub-band CQI level for RBGs 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 12 is set to nill.
  • the downlink scheduling circuitry is arranged to calculate the wideband MCS and a wideband SINR using, for example, lookup tables (e.g., Tables 3 and 4). Based on the wide band CQI value of 3, the wideband MCS of 2 is determined from Table 3, and a wideband SINR of -3.10 dB is determined from Table 4 at a BLER of 10%. In the illustrated example, the number of negative offsets is equal to 6.
  • the downlink scheduling circuitry is arranged to calculate, using the method described in relation to Figures 6 and 7 , the estimated SINR for each of RBGs 1, 3, 5-6, 8-9, 11 and 13-16, by first calculating the assumed MCS value for each of the assumed sub-band CQI levels (using, for example, Table 3) and then, for a given target BLER, calculating the estimated SINR for the assumed MCS (using, for example, Table 4).
  • the assumed MCS of RBGs 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, and 16 is 2 corresponding to an estimated SINR of -3.10 dB at a BLER of 10%.
  • the assumed MCS of RBGs 5 and 14 is 4 corresponding to an estimated SINR of -1.02 dB at a BLER of 10%.
  • the assumed MCS of RBGs 1, 8, and 15 is 6 corresponding to an estimated SINR of 0.98 dB at a BLER of 10%.
  • the estimated SINR is then calculated for RBG 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 12 using either the analytic method described above or the lookup table method described in relation to Figure 7 .
  • the SINR of RBG 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 12 is estimated to be -8.44.
  • the SINR of each RBG can be estimated and the RBGs that have higher SINR and lower SINR can be determined.
  • Flow begins at step S900 where the RBGs are ordered in decreasing estimated SINR levels such that the RBG with the highest SINR is first and the RBG with the lowest SINR level is last. Flow then proceeds to step S902 where a variable N is set to 0. The variable N is used as an index to step through configurations that include different numbers of RBGs.
  • step S904 Flow then proceeds to step S904, where the variable N is incremented by 1.
  • step S906 the first N RBGs are selected, i.e. the N RBGs with the highest SINRs are selected.
  • step S908 a power budget is distributed equally between the N selected RBGs. It will be appreciated that when a smaller number of RBGs is selected, the portion of the total power budget that is received by each RBG is larger than a case in which a larger number of RBGs is selected.
  • step S910 the ESINR is calculated.
  • the ESINR can be calculated using any of the methods described hereinabove based on the estimated SINR ratios that have been calculated for the RBGs and that have been subj ected to power boosting.
  • the SINRs that are used to calculate the ESINR are those that were estimated using the method as set out in reference to Figures 6 to 7 that have been further increased due to the power boosting. For example, where N is equal to 1, the ESINR is equal to the estimated SINR for the RBG with the highest SINR modified to reflect that the entire power budget is allocated to that RBG.
  • the lookup table could comprise Tables 6-8 set out below.
  • step S916 it is determined if all the RBGs have been considered. In other words it is determined if N is equal to the total number of RBGs. If all the RBGs have not been considered then flow returns to step S904. If, on the other hand, all the RBGs have been considered then flow proceeds to step S918 where the MCS and number of RBGs that have the highest throughput are determined. It would be appreciated by the skilled person that, whilst steps S902 to S916 have been illustrated as occurring sequentially for each N, in alternative configurations these steps could be carried out for all N, or a subset of N in parallel.
  • Figures 10a and 10b schematically illustrate the application of the method set out in Figure 9 to the example described in relation to Figure 8 .
  • Figures 10a and 10b show the RBGs listed in order of decreasing SINR.
  • resource blocks 1, 8 and 15, which each had a differential CQI value of 2 are listed first.
  • Blocks 5 and 14, which each had a differential CQI value of 1 are listed next.
  • Blocks 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, and 16, which each had a differential CQI value of 0 (see Figure 8 ) are listed next.
  • blocks 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 12, which each had a differential CQI value of 3 are listed last.
  • Figure 10a illustrates the result of considering N from 1 to 10
  • Figure 10b illustrates the result of considering N from 11 to 17.
  • the power boost is equal to 10 log 10 (17/N) and is equal to the power boost in dB that is provided for distributing the total power budget between N RBGs.
  • the power boost is equal to 12.30 dB.
  • the SINR with power boosting for the first RBG is therefore equal to 13.28 dB which is given by taking the estimated SNR in dB and adding the power boost in dB.
  • the ESINR is equal to the SINR with power boosting.
  • the corresponding MCS is determined from Table 4 for a target BLER of 10% and is equal to 21.
  • Tables 6 to 8 the corresponding throughput in Mbps can be estimated as 5.38.
  • the power boost is equal to 9.29 dB.
  • the ESINR is equal to the SINR with power boosting of each of the RBGs.
  • the corresponding MCS is determined from Table 4 for a target BLER of 10% and is equal to 17.
  • Tables 6 to 8 the corresponding throughput in Mbps can be estimated as 7.68.
  • the power boost is equal to 4.52 dB.
  • the SINR with power boosting for the first RBGs is therefore equal to 5.50 for each of RBGs 1, 8, and 15; the SINR with power boosting for RBGs 5 and 14 is 3.50 dB because the estimated SINR for RBGs 5 and 14 is lower than the estimated SINR for RBGs 1, 8, and 15; and the SINR with power boosting for RBG 3 is 1.42 dB because the estimated SINR for RBGs 1, 8, 15, 5, and 14 is lower than the estimated SINR for RBG 3 .
  • the ESINR (calculated using the method set out in relation to Figures 4 and 5 ) is different to each of the SINRs with power boosting and is equal to 3.99.
  • the corresponding MCS is determined from Table 4 for a target BLER of 10% and is equal to 9.
  • Tables 6 to 8 the corresponding throughput in Mbps can be estimated as 11.98.
  • the power boost is equal to 0 dB because the total power budget is split between all the RBGs, i.e., there are no RBGs to which none of the total power budget is allocated.
  • the SINR with power boosting is equal to the estimated SINR. Specifically RBGs 1, 8, and 15 have an SINR with power boosting of 0.98 dB; RBGs 5 and 14 have a SINR with power boosting of - 1.02 dB; RBGs 3, 6, 9, 11, 13 and 16 have a SINR with power boosting of -3.10 dB and RBGs 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 12 have a SINR with power boosting of -8.44 dB.
  • the ESINR (calculated using the method set out in relation to Figures 4 and 5 ) is different to each of the SINRs with power boosting and is equal to -3.10.
  • the corresponding MCS is determined from Table 4 for a target BLER of 10% and is equal to 2.
  • Tables 6 to 8 the corresponding throughput in Mbps can be estimated as 9.54.
  • FIG 11 schematically illustrates the MCS index and the throughput 1100 for each of the different values of N (the number of active RBGs).
  • the power boosting decreases because the total power budget has to be split between a greater number of active RBGs.
  • the MCS index is decreased in order to achieve the required target BLER.
  • each RBG is able to carry less useful information.
  • the total throughput is therefore non-monotonic as the number of active RBGs is increased and optimum peak throughput 1102 is obtained.
  • the number of active RBGs that achieves the maximum throughput is 7.
  • the downlink scheduling circuitry schedules 7 RBGs as the number of RBGs with a corresponding MCS of 8.
  • Figure 12 illustrates a method for selecting the particular RBGs that are used for the downlink transmission, given a number of RBGs to select.
  • Flow begins at step S1200 where a number of variables are defined.
  • C0 is the number of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 0.
  • C1 is the number of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 1.
  • C2 is the number of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 2.
  • C3 is the number of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 3.
  • R is the number of active RBGs that have been determined to achieve the peak throughput.
  • Flow proceeds to step S1202 where it is determined if R is less than or equal to C2.
  • step S1222 R RBGs are randomly selected from the group of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 2. If, at step S1202, it was determined that R is greater than C2 then flow proceeds to step S1204 where all the RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 2 are selected. Flow then proceeds to step S1206 where R is reduced by C2. Flow then proceeds to step S1208 where it is determined if R is less than or equal to C1. If yes then flow proceeds to step S1224 where R RBGs are randomly selected from the group of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 1.
  • step S1210 If, at step S128, it was determined that R is greater than C1 then flow proceeds to step S1210 where all the RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 1 are selected. Flow then proceeds to step S1212 where R is reduced by C1. Flow then proceeds to step S1214 where it is determined if R is less than or equal to C0. If yes then flow proceeds to step S1226 where R RBGs are randomly selected from the group of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 0. If, at step S1214, it was determined that R is greater than C0 then flow proceeds to step S1216 where all the RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 0 are selected.
  • step S1218 R is reduced by C0.
  • step S1220 the remaining R RBGs are randomly selected from the group of RBGs for which the differential sub-band CQI is equal to 3. In this way the peak throughput is obtained but without favouring the RBGs that appear sequentially first in order of frequency.
  • the process illustrated in Figure 12 is not applicable to the uplink case in which the RBGs are fully defined in the process of determining a peak throughput and there is no additional freedom to choose a particular set of RBGs to provide the determined optimum is available.
  • the random selection in steps S1222, S1224, S1226 and S1220 are uniform with there being an equal probability that any of the RBGs are selected from the group of RBGs from which the selection is being made.
  • the selection of downlink RBGs is based on a-priori knowledge that some RBGs have a higher likelihood of reduced interference.
  • the random selection is biased in favour of the RBGs for which it is known that there is a higher likelihood of reduced interference.
  • historical data can be used to establish that less interference is present in one RBG (e.g., RBG-X) than another RBG (e.g., RBG-Y).
  • RBG-X e.g., RBG-X
  • RBG-Y another RBG
  • the estimate for the SINR for RBGs with a differential sub-band CQI of 3 is achieved by pre-computing the SINR to be associated with RBGs with the differential sub-band of 3 and storing this information in a table.
  • the SINR for the case of 17 RBGs, there are 1140 possible combinations of different sub-band values corresponding to all valid combinations of four digit numbers in base 17 whose sum of digits is equal to 17.
  • the first digit is the number of RBGs that reported a differential sub-band CQI of 0.
  • the second digit is the number of RBGs that reported a differential sub-band CQI of 1.
  • the third digit is the number of RBGs that reported a differential sub-band CQI of 2.
  • the forth digit is the number of RBGs that reported a differential sub-band CQI of 3.
  • the fourth digit can be derived by subtracting the sum of the previous digits from 17. It would be readily apparent to the skilled person that this approach can be extended to different numbers of RBGs.
  • Figure 13 schematically illustrates an arrangement of lookup tables that can be used to determine the SINR associated with a differential sub-band CQI of 3.
  • the lookup tables are arranged as an offset table 2006 and a sequence of tables 2008 each corresponding to a different reported wideband CQI. Lookup is performed in the table of the sequence of tables 2008 that is identified by the wideband CQI 2004.
  • the table index at which to perform the lookup is determined based on the four digit numbers in base 17 using the offset index table 2006.
  • RBGs 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, and 16 have a differential sub-band CQI value of 0; RBGs 5 and 14 have a differential sub-band CQI of 1; RBGs 1, 8 and 15 have a differential sub-band CQI of 2; and RBGs 0, 2, 4, 7, 10 and 12 have a differential sub-band CQI of 3.
  • the first 3 digits 2002 of the four digit number in base 17 are 6, 2, and 3 indicating that there are 6 RBGs with a differential sub-band CQI with a value of 0, 2 RBGs with a differential sub-band CQI with a value of 1 and 3 RBGs with a differential sub-band CQI with a value of 2.
  • the table index is determined by performing a first lookup in the offset index table 2006 using the number of RBGs with a differential sub-band CQI of 0 and the number of RBGs with a differential sub-band CQI of 1. In this case, a lookup is performed in row 6, column 2 of the offset index table 2006.
  • the SINR of the (in this case) six RBGs with a differential CQI equal to three can be determined as -8.44 dB.
  • the steps of calculating the SINR for all possible combinations of RBGs with a differential CQI equal to three can be performed in advance using the techniques described herein and the results can be provided as a sequence of lookup tables.
  • the scheduling described in relation to Figures 6 to 13 provides a method for selecting particular RBGs to achieve a peak throughput for a downlink connection using information that is indicative of a signal quality.
  • This mechanism (which can be referred to as an inner loop link adaptation) can, in some configurations, be supplemented with an additional outer loop link adaptation in which the information indicative of the signal quality is modified, prior to the step of re-ordering the RBGs, in dependence on information that is indicative of the actual BLER.
  • the SINR is modified by a correction factor which is chosen to cause the actual BLER to correspond closely to the target BLER.
  • the outer loop link adaptation artificially modifies the SINRs by a correction factor in order to increase throughput which, in turn, drives up the BLER.
  • the correction factor is continually updated based on an indication as to whether signals have been successfully received (an ACK is received) or have been incorrectly received (a NACK is received).
  • Figure 14 schematically illustrates a base station (BS) 1300 that communicates with user equipment 1350.
  • the user equipment 1350 is provided with a decoder 1352 that receives signals and transmits information indicative of a number of acknowledgements (ACKs) and negative acknowledgement (NACKs) to the base station 1300.
  • the user equipment 1350 is also provided with a SINR to CQI convertor 1354 that determines a quality (SINR) associated with the transmissions and converts the information to CQI information, including wideband CQI information and differential sub-band CQI information, that is transmitted to the base station 1300.
  • SINR quality
  • the base station 1300 is provided with inner loop link adaptation 1306, outer loop link adaptation 1304, a wideband CQI to wideband SINR convertor 1318 and a sub-band CQI to sub-band SINR convertor 1322.
  • the wideband CQI to wideband SINR convertor 1318 receives the wideband CQI information from the user equipment 1350 and converts the wideband CQI information to a wideband SINR.
  • the wideband SINR is passed from the wideband CQI to wideband SINR convertor 1318 to the sub-band CQI to sub-band SINR convertor 1322 (optionally, via filter 1320).
  • the sub-band CQI to Sub-band SINR convertor 1322 determines the SINRs for each of the sub-bands.
  • the outer loop link adaptation unit 1304 receives information indicative of the ACKs and NACKs from the user equipment 1350.
  • the outer loop link adaptation takes a previous correction factor, provided by the delay unit 1302 and determines an updated correction factor.
  • the updated correction factor is provided by the outer loop link adaptation unit 1304 to the delay unit 1302 and to the combination unit 1314.
  • the combination unit 1314 combines the SINR for each of the sub-bands with the correction factor to provide a modified SINR for each of the sub-bands to the inner loop link adaptation unit 1312.
  • the inner loop link adaptation unit 1306 is arranged to perform the re-ordering of the RBGs using the re-order unit 1308, the calculation of the power boosted SINRs using the power boost unit 1310 and the MCS and RBG selection using the MCS and RBG selector 1312.
  • the base station 1300 then passes a downlink schedule including information of which MCS to use and which RBGs are to be selected to the UE 1350.
  • uplink scheduling circuitry will be described with reference to accompanying Figures 15 to 19 .
  • the operation of the uplink scheduling circuitry operates using similar principles to those set out in relation to the downlink scheduling circuitry and description of features that are common to the downlink scheduling circuitry and the uplink scheduling circuitry will be omitted for conciseness.
  • Figure 15 schematically illustrates a configuration for a base station 1400 arranged to communicate with user equipment 1450 and arranged to schedule uplink transmissions between the base station 1400 and the user equipment 1450 according to various configurations of the present techniques.
  • the user equipment 1450 is arranged to provide, to the base station 1400, uplink data from PUSCH unit 1452, sounding reference signals from SRS unit 1454 and buffer status reports from BSR unit 1456.
  • the base station is provided with an outer loop link adaptation unit 1406 (which operates as described in relation to the downlink scheduling), inner loop link adaptation unit 1418, a PUSCH decoder 1408 and a sub-band SINR estimation unit 1410.
  • the sub-band SINR estimation unit 1410 determines information indicative of transmission quality by estimating SINRs from the sounding reference signals provided by SRS unit 1454 in the user equipment 1450.
  • the SINR estimates are passed, optionally via the filter 1412, to the combination unit 1416.
  • the PUSCH decoder 1408 receives uplink data from the PUSCH unit 1452 of the user equipment 1450.
  • the PUSCH decoder 1408 determines whether the uplink data has been received successfully or not and issues an ACK or NACK signal.
  • the ACK/NACK signal is passed to the outer loop link adaptation unit 1406 which, in combination with the delay 1414 operates in the same manner as the outer loop link adaptation unit 1304 described in relation to Figure 14 .
  • the correction factor from the outer loop link adaptation unit 1406 is passed to the combination unit 1416 which combines the correction factor with the sub-band SINR estimates provided by the sub-band SINR estimation unit 1410.
  • the adjusted sub-band SINR estimates are passed from the combination circuit 1416 to the inner loop link adaptation unit 1418 where they are received by the joint MCS, power and RBG selector 1402.
  • the joint MCS, power and RBG selection unit 1402 determines which RBGs are to be used for the uplink transmissions and the corresponding MCS based on calculation of an ESINR calculated in relation to the corrected sub-band SINR estimates. This is achieved using a sequence of lookup tables including an MCS lookup table 4122, a throughput lookup table 1420, and a power boost lookup table 1424.
  • the throughput tables for the uplink scheduling are different to those used in the downlink case. Exemplary throughput tables are set out in Tables 9 to 11. Table 9. UL throughput for various RBG sizes and MCS index 0 to 9 RBG 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0.18 0.23 0.30 0.37 0.47 0.56 0.67 0.78 0.90 1.01 2 0.36 0.47 0.58 0.74 0.93 1.13 1.31 1.54 1.77 2.00 3 0.54 0.69 0.86 1.13 1.35 1.65 1.96 2.31 2.62 3.00 4 0.72 0.93 1.13 1.46 1.81 2.23 2.62 3.08 3.54 4.00 5 0.90 1.14 1.43 1.85 2.23 2.77 3.31 3.84 4.38 4.92 6 1.05 1.39 1.69 2.19 2.69 3.31 3.92 4.61 5.23 5.99 7 1.23 1.62 1.96 2.54 3.15 3.84 4.61 5.38 6.15 6.91 8 1.39 1.85 2.27 2.93 3.61 4.46 5.23
  • the uplink transmission determines the sub-band SINR estimates locally (as opposed to having to reconstruct these based on the CQI information received from user equipment).
  • the base station does not need to perform the steps of converting from the wide-band CQI information and the differential CQI information to obtain the sub-band SINR estimates. Instead, these are measured directly based on the sounding reference signals that are output by the UE.
  • the combination of RBGs that are usable for the uplink transmissions can be determined using the method set out in relation to figures 6 to 13 with the added difference that the SINRs are determined from the sounding reference signals rather than being estimated from the received wideband and sub-band CQI values.
  • the methods for determining an appropriate combination of RBGs as set out in relation to the downlink scheduling are equally applicable to the uplink scheduling.
  • the combinations of RBGs that are usable for uplink transmissions are restricted to contiguous subsets of the RBGs. Hence, there are fewer possible RBG combinations available in the uplink transmission scheduling than the case of the downlink transmission scheduling.
  • Figure 16 schematically illustrates an example of a set of corrected SINR values (in dB) for a set of RBGs.
  • RBGs that are marked with an X are not available for resource allocation.
  • RBGs 6-8, 13 and 14 are not available for resource allocation.
  • RBG 0 has a SINR of 2.17 dB
  • RBG 1 has a SINR of 5.40 dB
  • RBG 2 has an SINR of 4.16 dB
  • RBG 3 has a SINR of 5.68
  • RBG 4 has a SINR of 3.22 dB
  • RBG 5 has a SINR of -1.59 dB
  • RBG 9 has a SINR of 6.87
  • RBG 10 has a SINR of 4.10 dB
  • RBG 11 has an SINR of 8.04
  • RBG 12 has a SINR of 4.13
  • RBG 15 has a SINR of 12.38 dB
  • RBG 16 has a SINR of 3.66 dB.
  • the aim of the uplink scheduling circuitry is to determine the contiguous subset of the RBGs for which the total throughput of the uplink transmissions is maximised.
  • Flow begins at step S1600 where a number of variables are set including R, the total number of RBGs, S(r) the SINR for the RBG group indicated by the index r, and V(r) which is a binary variable that indicates whether the RBG indicated by the index r is valid or invalid and it is assumed that V ( n ) indicates that the RBG is invalid for n ⁇ R .
  • Flow then proceeds to step S1602 where the index r is initiated to - 1.
  • Flow proceeds to step S1604 where r is incremented by a value of 1.
  • Flow proceeds to step S1606 where it is determined whether r is equal to R.
  • step S1622 the stored values of r and n that are associated with the stored best throughput are retrieve and, based on these values of r and n, any values of V that fall in the range from V[r] to V[n] are set to invalid indicating that the corresponding RBGs have been selected and flow terminates. If, at step S1606, it was determined that r is not equal to R, indicating that the search is not yet complete, then flow proceeds to step S1608 where n is set equal to r.
  • the variables r and n are used to define a start RBG and an end RBG of a contiguous subset of the RBGs.
  • n is set to r corresponding to case in which a size of the contiguous subset that is being considered is equal to a single RBG.
  • Flow then proceeds to step S1610 where it is determined whether or not V(r) indicates that the n-th RBG is valid. If the n-th RBG is not valid then flow returns to step S1604. If however, at step S1610, it was determined that the n-th RBG is valid then it is determined that all RBGs in the currently considered subset of contiguous RBGs are valid and flow proceeds to step S1612.
  • step S1616 the throughput is determined, for example, using Tables 9 to 11.
  • step S1618 the current best throughput associated with the corresponding r, n and MCS is stored.
  • step S1620 n is incremented before flow returns to step S1610.
  • FIGS 18a , 18b , and 18c respectively for each possible subset of contiguous RBGs calculated for the example SINRs set out in Figure 16 .
  • Each row of Figures 18a , 18b , and 18c refers to an initial RBG index for the subset and each column of Figures 181, 18b , and 18c refers to the number of contiguous RBGs included in that subset.
  • row 0 of Figures 18a , 18b , and 18c corresponds to the subsets that start with RBG 0.
  • Figure 18a illustrates the ESINR for each possible subset calculated based on the SINR values provided in Figure 16 .
  • the corresponding MCS values (calculated, for example, using Table 4) are illustrated in Figure 18b .
  • the corresponding throughput values (calculated, for example, using the MCS values of Figure 18a and Tables 9-11) are illustrated in Figure 18c . It can be seen from Figure 18c that a peak throughput 1500c of 9.07 Mbps (Mb.s -1 ) can be found for the subset of RBGs that start with RBG index 0 and that contain 5 contiguous RBGs.
  • the corresponding MCS 1500b, as illustrated in Figure 18b is 15 and the corresponding SINR 1500a, as illustrated in Figure 18a , is 8.70.
  • FIG. 19 schematically illustrates a sequence of steps carried out in accordance with some configurations of the present techniques.
  • Flow begins at step S1700 where information indicative of a quality of a wireless uplink connection is received.
  • Flow then proceeds to step S1702 where an uplink transmission configuration is determined.
  • the uplink transmission configuration defines a subset of uplink resource blocks allocated to the wireless uplink connection, the subset of uplink resource blocks is determined based on a simultaneous consideration of both of the quality of the wireless uplink connection and a power spectrum distribution of a total power budget across the uplink resource blocks. Furthermore, the power spectrum distribution is non-uniform across the uplink resource blocks
  • an apparatus and a method of operating an apparatus comprising: communication circuitry configured to receive information indicative of a quality of a wireless uplink connection; and scheduling circuitry configured to determine an uplink transmission configuration defining a subset of uplink resource blocks allocated to the wireless uplink connection, the subset of uplink resource blocks determined based on a simultaneous consideration of both of the quality of the wireless uplink connection and a power spectrum distribution of a total power budget across the uplink resource blocks, wherein the power spectrum distribution is non-uniform across the uplink resource blocks.
  • a range of different potential uplink transmission configurations each comprising a different set of resource block groups with a different power spectrum distribution, can be determined.
  • scheduling circuitry that is arranged to determine an uplink transmission configuration from the potential uplink transmission configurations, for example, based on an estimated throughput or an estimated overall signal quality, an improved communication throughput can be achieved.
  • the words “configured to" are used to mean that an element of an apparatus has a configuration able to carry out the defined operation.
  • a “configuration” means an arrangement or manner of interconnection of hardware or software.
  • the apparatus may have dedicated hardware which provides the defined operation, or a processor or other processing device may be programmed to perform the function.
  • Configured to does not imply that the apparatus element needs to be changed in any way in order to provide the defined operation.
  • the application may be configured as follows:

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